Ammunition link



April 16, 1968 B. P. CLARK AMMUNITION LINK Filed Sept. 22, 1966 INVENTOR. BURTON P. CLARK United States Patent 3,377,919 AMMUNITION LINK Burton P. Clark, Fayetteville, Tenn., assignor, by mesne assignments, to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Sept. 22, 1966, Ser. No. 582,203 6 Claims. (CI. 89-35) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved link for flexible ammunition belts is provided for weapons employing side stripping of the cartridges. The link comprises fingers which loosely hold the rounds and a slidable pin which locks the respective rounds in the links. The lock is releasable only upon removal of the leading round in the belt.

The present invention relates to cartridge belt links of the type which, together with other links of similar kind, make up a flexible belt of positively held ammunition useful with automatic weapons.

Various types of belt links for feeding ammunition to automatic weapons have been provided heretofore wherein the cartridges are removed by side stripping them from the link. In links of this type the loops or arcuate fingers engage a cartridge by tightly and frictionally extending more than 180 degrees around the outer surface thereof. These fingers normally must be sprung open with considerable force to remove the round when side stripping. For rapid fire weapons, it is desirable to minimize the force required to strip the rounds from such a belt link.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an ammunition link which substantially eliminates the force necessary to side strip rounds from conventional links.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an ammunition link which eliminates the necessity for springing open two cartridge holding fingers with great force to remove each round.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro vide an ammunition link which requires little force to side strip the rounds yet it is flexible enough to permit twisting movement and folding of the belt of which it is a part.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ammunition link which will positively hold or trap the round without excessively gripping each round yet, at the same time, is free to move in relation to the one next to it.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an ammunition link which functions to release the loading round for stripping while the following rounds remain locked securely in place.

'An additional object of the present invention is to provide an ammunition link which is given to ease of assembly and mass production yet it is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and highly effective and efli-cient in use.

In accordance with the present invention, the ammunition link comprises a frame-like body portion defining a central opening. One side of the frame is provided with fingers or tabs to position and hold the round in the link. The opposite side of the body portion is provided with at least one other finger or tab which extends through the central opening of the previous link in the chain and also extends partly around the cartridge held by the previous link. A slidable pin is carried by the body portion which is disposed between adjacent rounds and serves to lock in place all rounds except the leading round.

The novel features characteristic of the present invention, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will be understood better from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an ammunition link in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a plurality of ammunition links assembled to form .a portion of an ammunition belt; and

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the links shown in FIG- URE 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, wherein similar reference characters have been used to designate corresponding parts throughout, there is shown a single, preferred embodiment of an ammunition link in accordance with the present invention.

The cartridge belt link 1, shown in FIGURE 1, is adapted to cooperate with other duplicate links to form a disintegrating cartridge belt. Each link in the belt is constructed to provide a first cartridge engaging part and a second cartridge retaining part which cooperates with the cartridge held by the cartridge engaging part of the next successive link in the belt.

The preferred embodiment of ammunition link 1 comprises a frame-like body portion 3 which is generally rectangular in shape and defines a rectangular central opening 5. On one end 7 of the body portion, there is provided a plurality of cartridge engaging tines or prongs 9A, 9B, which extend upwardly from the plane of the body portion and in a manner to form a cradle for receiving and holding a round of ammunition.

The tines 9 are an integral part of the body portion 3, two of the tines 9A being disposed spaced apart and located at the extremities of the body portion end 7. The tines 9A extend outwardly and upwardly from the plane of the body portion in an arcuate manner. Two other tines 9B extend in an opposite direction to the tines 9A, each one extending arcuately and upwardly from opposite sides 11 of the body portion 3. The tines 9A and 9B together form a cradle substantially conforming to the cylindrical outer surface of a cartridge case to be held thereby. The tines 9 extend slightly more than degrees around the outer surface of the case and are to some extent flexible thereby to frictionally hold or engage the cartridge yet allow the cartridge to be stripped laterally with a minimum of force, in a manner well known in the art.

One or more hooks or retaining members 15 extend from the end 13 of the body portion 3 opposite to the one end 7. The books 15 are also an integral part of the body portion and comprise extensions thereof which curve upwardly from the plane of the body portion in an arcuate manner. The books 15 are disposed of a length to extend upwardly through the central opening of the next successive link in the belt as well as to partially surround the round held by that next successive link, in the manner particularly shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawing. The hooks 15 are disposed in spaced relation to the cylindrical outer surface of the cartridge, unlike the tines or prongs 9, since their function is not to hold the cartridge on the link, but only to trap the round in such a way that the round may move in relation to the one next to it. This integral flexibility allows fan and twist movement characteristic of a flexible belt of ammunition. In addition thereto, the arrangement of the long retaining members 1'5 permits them to rotate about the held round thereby providing for belt fold.

Inasmuch as the rounds of ammunition are relatively loosely held by the tines 9, the links of the present invention are provided with a means for locking or retaining them in place. This locking means comprises a pin 17 which is slidably supported on each link by any suitable means, such as a pair of spaced apart tabs 19. The pin is disposed in a position where it is located between adjacent rounds in the belt, for example, rounds 4 and 6 shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The lock pin is centrally located on the body end 13 so that it can be disposed between the tines 9A of the adjacent link holding the following round. A stop or limit pin 21 is disposed diametrically through the lock pin 17 in the section thereof located between the tabs. 19. The purpose of the stop 21 is to limit axial movement of the lock pin as well as to retain the pin in the link assembly.

The link is designed in such a manner that, in response to the lock pin 17 being disposed at its extreme position toward the hook members 15, the distance W between the tips or free ends 23 of the hook members and the edge 25 of the pin is less than the diameter D of the round of ammunition associated with these hook members. This limiting distance is effected by an arrangement of the supporting tabs 19 which will dispose the axis of the lock pins coincident with an imaginary line 26 drawn between the axes of the rounds which are disposed at the ends of the pin, as illustrated in FIG- URE 3 of the drawing. It will be observed that such an imaginary line is disposed at an acute angle to the plane of the frame-like body portion 3 of the link. The vertex of the angle is located on the central axis of the leading round. Thus, the pin 17 looks or prevents removal of the previous round of ammunition from the link holding it as long as the pin is disposed between two successive rounds of ammunition. Movement of the lock pin to its locking position is accomplished during the loading operation when the next successive round of ammunition in the chain is placed within the link. The exterior surface of the next successive round 4 engages the end 27 of the lock pin to urge the pin toward the previously loaded round 6 in the chain, as shown particularly in FIGURE 3 of the drawing.

Loading of the rounds of ammunition is accomplished by assembling the links and rounds in succession. For example, as illustrated in FIGURE 3, the hook members of the middle link are extended through the central opening 5 in the link to the left of it, round 6 is placed into position in the prongs 9 of the left link forcing the lock pin 17 thereof toward the left. The next successive link in the chain, that is, the link to the right of the center link in FIGURE 3, is similarly assembled with its hook members 15 extending through the central opening of the center link. Round 4 is placed into position in the receiving prongs 9 of the center link forcing the lock pin toward round 6 in the link disposed to the left. In this manner, each of the rounds in the chain are trapped or locked in turn in their respective links except the last one or leading round. Accordingly, as rounds 2, 4, and 6, in that order, are removed, the lock pins 17 associated respectively with the removed rounds are released thereby releasing each successive round in turn.

Extending downwardly from the frame-like body portion 3, four positioning tabs 29 are provided in the vicinity of the positioning tines 9. The function of these tabs is to hold the link during the extraction and to provide a guide for the link as it is pushed out of the gun after delinking of the round.

From the foregoing description, it will become apparent to those persons skilled in the art that the present invention provides an improved ammunition link which not only is highly effective in facilitating side stripping the rounds of ammunition with a minimum of effort but also is conducive to rapid fire weapon systems.

Although but a single, preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and described herein, it will become apparent to those persons skilled in the art that other forms thereof, as well as changes in the particular form described, are possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is desired that the present invention shall not be limited except insofar as is made necessary by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cartridge belt link adapted for cooperation with other similar links to form a disintegrating cartridge belt, said link comprising a frame-like body portion, cartridge engaging means on said body portion comprising a plurality of arcuate members disposed to extend upwardly from one side of said body portion and forming a cradle for engagement with the cylindrical outer surface of a cartridge placed therein, cartridge retaining means on said body portion comprising at least one hook member disposed to extend arcuately upwardly from the side opposite said one said of said body portion, the upwardly extending end of said hook member being freely disposed, and locking means for cooperation with said retaining means to contain a cartridge held by said belt, said locking means being disposed between said engaging means members and said retaining means arcuate members, said arcuate members extending more than degrees around the outer surface of a cartridge held thereby, and said locking means comprising a pin slidably mounted on said body portion for movement to a locking position whereby one end thereof is spaced apart from said free end of said hook member a distance less than the diameter of a cartridge to be retained thereby.

2. The invention described in claim 1 wherein said pin is disposed with the end thereof opposite to its said one end in association with said engaging means whereby movement of said pin to its locking position is responsive to placement of a cartridge within said engaging means.

'3. The invention described in claim 2 wherein the axis of said pin is disposed along an imaginary line connecting the axes of cartridges disposed in said link engaging means and said link retaining means.

4. A cartridge belt link adapted for cooperation with other similar links to form a disintegrating cartridge belt, said link comprising a frame-like body portion defining a central opening, cradle means extending upwardly from the plane of said body portion at one side thereof, said cradle means comprising a plurality of arcuate members disposed to conform to the cylindrical outer surface of a cartridge to be held thereby and to extend partially around the cartridge, at least one hook member extending outwardly and upwardly from a side of said body portion opposite to said one side, said hook member being adapted to extend through the central opening of an adjacent link for extension partially around a cartridge disposed within said adjacent link cradle means, and locking means comprising a member supported on said body portion for slidable movement, said locking means being slidable toward said hook member in response to a cartridge being placed within said cradle means sufliciently that an end of said locking means is spaced from the free end of said hook member a dis- 5 t-ance less than the diameter of the cartridge disposed References Cited within the cradle means of said adjacent link.

5. The invention defined in claim 4 wherein said slid- UNIThD STATES PATENTS able member comprises a pin the axis of which is dis- 8911374 6/1908 Ruszltszka 89 35 posed along an imaginary line connecting the axes of 5 11620408 3/1927 9 cartridges disposed within said link engaging means and 2352354 7/1944 HlgsOn 89 35 said retaining means. 7/1945 Ewart" 6. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein said arcuate members extend more than 180 degrees around the BENJAMIN BORCHELT Prlmary Exammer' cylindrical outer surface of a. cartridge retained thereby. 10 S. C. BENTLEY, Assistant Examiner. 

